what was mercury vapor treatment used for

What was mercury vapor used for? MERCURY HAS LONG BEEN USED as a medicine to treat various diseases, such as syphilis and typhoid fever, or parasites. Certainly a treatment with such a "powerful" medicine impressed patients, and when poisoning symptoms appeared they could always be blamed on worsening of the original disease.

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What was mercury vapor treatment used for?

What was mercury vapor used for? MERCURY HAS LONG BEEN USED as a medicine to treat various diseases, such as syphilis and typhoid fever, or parasites. Certainly a treatment with such a "powerful" medicine impressed patients, and when poisoning symptoms appeared they could always be blamed on worsening of the original disease.

Did Mercury really cure syphilis?

This led to a linkage between mercury and syphilis and the famous phrase of “a night with Venus and a lifetime with Mercury”. Mercury helped but it didn’t cure. Physicians began to work on methods to get mercury into the body. These included getting the patient to sweat while exposed to mercury vapors, or drinking mercury in the form of ...

Is mercury vapor bulb dangerous?

Ultraviolet radiation burns from high intensity mercury vapor light bulbs are a public health concern, especially in schools and other indoor facilities where the light bulbs may be subject to damage.

Can Mercury burn skin?

ROUTES OF EXPOSURE: Elemental mercury is toxic primarily through inhalation of mercury vapors. It is only slowly absorbed through the skin, although it may cause skin and eye irritation. Elemental mercury droplets may be absorbed through eye contact.

What organs are affected by mercury?

The target organ for inhaled mercury vapor is primarily the brain [5]. Mercurous and mercuric salts chiefly damage the gut lining and kidney [5], while methyl mercury is widely distributed throughout the body [5]. Toxicity varies with dosage: large acute exposures to elemental mercury vapor induce severe pneumonitis, which in extreme cases can be fatal [5]. Low-grade chronic exposure to elemental or other forms of mercury induces subtler symptoms and clinical findings, as discussed hereinafter.

How long does mercury stay in your system?

Half lives appear to be multiphasic, as with metallic mercury, with human studies suggesting an effective half life of 42 days for 80% of an oral tracer dose; the other 20% did not appear to have a measureable rate of excretion [44]. This may reflect demethylation to metallic mercury in the brain and other organs or mechanisms yet to be determined.

How is mercury absorbed?

Approximately 80% of metallic mercury vapor outgassed from amalgams is absorbed through inhalation [10, 14, 15], compared with about 7 to 10% absorption of ingested metallic mercury [5], and about 1% absorption of metallic mercury through skin contact [5]. On entry to the body, mercury vapor has great affinity for sulfhydryl groups and bonds to sulfur-containing amino acids throughout the body. Mercury vapor is transported to the brain [16], either dissolved in serum or adherent to red cell membranes. Metallic mercury passes easily through the blood brain barrier [17] and through the placenta, where it lodges in the fetal brain [18]. Metallic mercury is, however, rapidly oxidized to mercuric mercury on entry to the blood stream [5], although not so quickly as to prevent considerable uptake by the central nervous system while still in the metallic form.

Where does mercuric mercury accumulate?

Mercuric mercury does not cross the blood-brain barrier efficiently, but it does accumulate in quantity in the placenta, fetal tissues, and amniotic fluid [35]. Evidence exists showing transport of mercuric mercury via one or more amino acid transporters [39], particularly that for cysteine, which may account for accumulation in the brain [5]. Much of the body burden of mercuric mercury resides in the proximal convoluted renal tubule [40] bonded to metallothionein [41]. Significant deposition also occurs periportally in the liver [42] and lesser amounts in epithelial tissues, choroidal plexus, and testes.

What are the symptoms of postnatal exposure?

Postnatal exposures generate a range of symptoms ranging from paresthesias, with lesser exposures, to ataxia, visual, auditory, and extrapyramidal impairments with moderate exposures and clonic seizures in more severe exposures, as in Minamata [1] and Iraq [2–4].

What is the source of mercury?

Most human exposure to mercury is caused by outgassing of mercury from dental amalgam, ingestion of contaminated fish, or occupational exposure, according to the World Health Organization [7, 8].

How much mercury is absorbed by humans?

Most human metallic mercury exposure comes from mercury vapor outgassing from amalgam fillings, at a rate of 2 to 28 micrograms per facet surface per day, of which about 80% is absorbed, according to the World Health Organization [7, 8] and Berglund et al. [10].

What is a phosphor coated lamp?

To correct the bluish tinge, many mercury vapor lamps are coated on the inside of the outer bulb with a phosphor that converts some portion of the ultraviolet emissions into red light. This helps to fill in the otherwise very-deficient red end of the electromagnetic spectrum.

What is a self ballasted lamp?

Self-ballasted (SB) lamps are mercury vapor lamps with a filament inside connected in series with the arc tube that functions as an electrical ballast. This is the only kind of mercury vapor lamp that can be connected directly to the mains without an external ballast. These lamps have only the same or slightly higher efficiency than incandescent lamps of similar size, but have a longer life. They give light immediately on startup, but usually need a few minutes to restrike if power has been interrupted. Because of the light emitted by the filament, they have slightly better color rendering properties than mercury vapor lamps. Self-ballasted lamps are typically more expensive than a standard mercury vapor lamp.

What is a metal halide lamp?

A very closely related lamp design called the metal halide lamp uses various compounds in an amalgam with the mercury. Sodium iodide and scandium iodide are commonly in use. These lamps can produce much better quality light without resorting to phosphors. If they use a starting electrode, there is always a thermal shorting switch to eliminate any electrical potential between the main electrode and the starting electrode once the lamp is lit. (This electrical potential in the presence of the halides can cause the failure of the glass/metal seal). More modern metal halide systems do not use a separate starting electrode; instead, the lamp is started using high voltage pulses as with high-pressure sodium vapor lamps.

How many lumens does a mercury vapor lamp have?

Mercury vapor lamps are more energy efficient than incandescent and most fluorescent lights, with luminous efficacies of 35 to 65 lumens/watt. Their other advantages are a long bulb lifetime in the range of 24,000 hours and a high intensity, clear white light output.

Why does a mercury vapor lamp glow?

When a mercury vapor lamp is first turned on, it will produce a dark blue glow because only a small amount of the mercury is ionized and the gas pressure in the arc tube is very low, so much of the light is produced in the ultraviolet mercury bands. As the main arc strikes and the gas heats up and increases in pressure, the light shifts into the visible range and the high gas pressure causes the mercury emission bands to broaden somewhat, producing a light that appears more nearly white to the human eye, although it is still not a continuous spectrum. Even at full intensity, the light from a mercury vapor lamp with no phosphors is distinctly bluish in color. The pressure in the quartz arc-tube rises to approximately one atmosphere once the bulb has reached its working temperature. If the discharge should be interrupted (e.g. by interruption of the electric supply), it is not possible for the lamp to restrike until the bulb cools enough for the pressure to fall considerably. The reason for a prolonged period of time before the lamp restrikes is because the elevated pressure, which leads to higher breakdown voltage of the gas inside (voltage needed to start an arc – Paschen's law ), which is outside the capabilities of the ballast.

Why do mercury lamps have a green tint?

Clear mercury lamps produce white light with a bluish-green tint due to mercury's combination of spectral lines.

How long does it take for mercury to warm up?

The increase in pressure results in further brightening of the lamp. The entire warm-up process takes roughly 4 to 7 minutes.

What is mercury used for?

Most people know of elemental mercury as that slippery, silvery liquid once used with ubiquity in glass thermometers . If you were a child before helicopter parenting, you might have had the opportunity to play with the contents of a broken thermometer.

How did Qin die?

He died at 49 from mercury poisoning. But hey, why stop there? In an attempt to rule in the afterlife, Qin had himself buried in an underground mausoleum so grand that ancient writers described it flowing with rivers of mercury, its ceiling decorated with jewelled constellations. Thus far, the tomb is unexcavated due to the toxic levels of mercury that threaten to release if it’s opened.

Why is the tomb unexcavated?

Thus far, the tomb is unexcavated due to the toxic levels of mercury that threaten to release if it’s opened. Quite a bit later, when Abraham Lincoln was immortalizing himself in history, he too was a victim of liquid mercury. Before his presidency, Lincoln suffered from mood swings, headaches and constipation.

Why did the rectal gates of hell open?

Constipation had long been associated with sickness, so opening the rectal gates of hell was a sign of righting the wrongs. Some believe the “black” part of its name evolved from the dark stools ejected, which were mistaken for purged bile.

What caused genital sores?

Genital sores sprouted after exposure to an infected sexual partner and progressed to rash and fevers. Later, foul-smelling abscesses spread over the body, some so severe that they ate away at flesh and bone. People were desperate for a cure. By the 16th century, mercury came to the rescue.

What did the baby's hands and feet look like?

Mercury was considered a cure — until it killed you. The baby’s hands and feet had become icy, swollen and red. The flesh was splitting off, resembling blanched tomatoes whose skins peeled back from the fruit. She had lost weight, cried petulantly, and clawed at herself from the intense itching, tearing the raw skin open.

What is the blue mass?

So what was this mysterious “blue mass”? A peppercorn-sized pill containing pure liquid mercury, licorice root, rosewater, honey and sugar.

Why was mercury used in syphilis?

Mercury was the remedy of choice for syphilis in Protestant Europe. Paracelsus (1493-1541) formulated mercury as an ointment because he recognised the toxicity and risk of poisoning when administrating mercury as an elixir. Mercury was already being used in Western Europe to treat skin diseases.

What is the black spot on the neck of the Quack Doctor?

Viscount Squanderfield, who is seated and holding up a pill box to the quack doctor, is depicted with a large black spot on his neck. This spot is often interpreted as a syphilis sore and the pills are likely to be mercury pills.

What is the Hogarth print?

The Hogarth print depicts a shelf of apothecary ceramic jars — one or two may contain mercury ointment. The RPS museum has a tin-glazed earthenware jar with a label which reads ’Elecampane and mercury ointment’ dating from around 1700–30 and would have been available from apothecaries during Hogarth’s time.

Why does the mistress hold another pill box?

His child mistress holds another pill box whilst dabbing the edge of her mouth, which may indicate she could be suffering from excessive salivation as a result of mercury poisoning or she could be dabbing an oozing sore. Source: Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

What was the first antibiotic for syphilis?

Source: Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Salvarsan was the first effective treatment for syphilis.

When was the first syphilis treatment discovered?

The first effective treatment for syphilis, Salvarsan, was only found in 1910 — five years after the causative bacterium was identified by Fritz Schaudinn (a zoologist) and Erich Hoffmann (a dermatologist). Salvarsan was developed by Nobel Prize winner Paul Ehrlich and his Japanese assistant Sahachiro Hata.

When were mercury pills popular?

Mercury pills were popular for treating syphilis from the 17th to 19th century.

How did gonorrhoea affect the military?

The impact of gonorrhoea and syphilis on military personnel in terms of morbidity and mortality was greatly mitigated after 1943 due to the introduction of penicillin, as well as other factors such as education, prophylaxis, training of health personnel and adequate and rapid access to treatment.

Why is syphilis considered a pre-Columbian disease?

Several medical historians over the last century have postulated other reasons for syphilis being a pre-Columbian Old World disease – a greater lay and medical recognition of syphilis developed in recent eras, and that syphilis had evolved from other treponeal diseases into a more virulent form due to a combination of social, cultural and environmental changes around the time of Columbus. In the last several decades development of palaeopathology has enabled close evaluation of Old World skeletons and many studies have published their findings of evidence for syphilitic bone disease. [24, 27]

What is the name of the disease that is a syphilis?

Syphilis had a variety of names, usually people naming it after an enemy or a country they thought responsible for it. The French called it the ‘Neapolitan disease’, the ‘disease of Naples’ or the ‘Spanish disease’, and later grande verole or grosse verole, the ‘ great pox’, the English and Italians called it the ‘French disease’, the ‘Gallic disease’, the ‘morbus Gallicus’, or the ‘French pox’, the Germans called it the ‘French evil’, the Scottish called it the ‘ grandgore ‘, the Russians called it the ‘Polish disease’, the Polish and the Persians called it the ‘Turkish disease’, the Turkish called it the ‘Christian disease’, the Tahitians called it the ‘British disease’, in India it was called the ‘Portuguese disease’, in Japan it was called the ‘Chinese pox’, and there are some references to it being called the ‘Persian fire’. [5, 8, 9]

Why was syphilis so feared?

From its beginning, syphilis was greatly feared by society – because of the repulsiveness of its symptoms, the pain and disfigurement that was endured, the severe after effects of the mercury treatment, but most of all, because it was transmitted and spread by an inescapable facet of human behaviour, sexual intercourse.

How did syphilis start?

The disease started with genital ulcers, then progressed to a fever, general rash and joint and muscle pains, then weeks or months later were followed by large, painful and foul-smelling abscesses and sores, or pocks, all over the body. Muscles and bones became painful, especially at night. The sores became ulcers that could eat into bones and destroy the nose, lips and eyes. They often extended into the mouth and throat, and sometimes early death occurred. It appears from descriptions by scholars and from woodcut drawings at the time that the disease was much more severe than the syphilis of today, with a higher and more rapid mortality and was more easily spread , possibly because it was a new disease and the population had no immunity against it. [5, 6, 7]

Why was syphilis a terrible disease?

Syphilis was a terrible disease because of its propensity to mimic many medical disorders , and its importance to medicine was emphasised by Sir William Osler who in an address given to the New York Academy of Medicine in 1897 titled Internal Medicine as a Vocation said :

When was syphilis first discovered?

Up until the early 20th century it was believed that syphilis had been brought from America and the New World to the Old World by Christopher Columbus in 1493. In 1934 a new hypothesis was put forward, that syphilis had previously existed in the Old World before Columbus.

What is the meaning of the exchange between Ernest and his doctor?

The exchange between Ernest and his doctor captures a catalogue of sexual hang-ups. In the prudish Victorian imagination, syphilis was inextricable from the other great “social evil”, prostitution, and represented physical and moral decay. Though neither man names the disease, the subtext is clear: Ernest contracted syphilis during a wild night in Paris – a misfortune that could befall anyone, really. The doctor offers no rebuke. Instead, he shifts blame by lamenting that “the women who carry this disease” are often asymptomatic. As a wealthy, male patient, Ernest is afforded more sympathy than the poor, working-class women who turn to prostitution to make ends meet.

What was the Victorian imagination about syphilis?

In the Victorian imagination, syphilis was inextricable from the other great ‘social evil’, prostitution, and represented physical and moral decay. Photograph: ITV

Why is syphilis called the Great Imitator?

Because syphilis produced so many different symptoms that could be mistaken for so many different diseases, Jonathan Hutchinson – Victorian Britain’s foremost medical authority on VD – labelled it “the great imitator”. In the weeks after infection, a person would develop a painless ulcer, usually on the genitals.

How does Ernest shift blame?

Instead, he shifts blame by lamenting that “the women who carry this disease” are often asymptomatic. As a wealthy, male patient, Ernest is afforded more sympathy than the poor, working-class women who turn to prostitution to make ends meet.

What was the treatment of the poor determined by?

Consequently, the treatment of the poor was determined by the prejudices and moral sensibilities of the wealthy.

Why were the working classes predisposed to venereal infection?

They lacked the basic nutrition and sanitation that would have aided recovery. And the fact that they lived in overcrowded slums, thereby increasing the risk of disease transmission, led some social reformers to conclude that the working classes were predisposed to venereal infection.

What did Ernest suffer from?

Ernest suffers from a rash and mouth lesions. These, the doctor observes, are among the commoner manifestations of syphilis. But a plethora of other loathsome symptoms would hamper diagnosis throughout the nineteenth century.

Overview

Origins

Principle of operation

Operation

Ultraviolet cleaning

Light pollution considerations

Bans

Ultraviolet hazards